Chapter 21 – Into the Mine
After a quick meal at a nearby restaurant early in the morning, the Hero group headed to the Grid Mall, which had changed from a mining town to an adventurer’s town.
Since it was my first trip, I got lost several times even after looking at the map, but fortunately I was able to arrive around lunchtime.
Contrary to its image as a mine, Grid Mall, built right next to a huge mine, was located at a high place to prepare for flooding due to unexpected heavy rain.
In Grid Mall, in addition to the villagers, there were adventurers from outside to subdue the demons inside the mine, and perhaps because of that, there were many entertainment facilities such as bars and brothels in the village.
“There are more people than I thought.”
The hero looked at the huge mine right next to the village and the crowds gathered in the village and said in admiration.
However, admiring it for a while, thinking that there might be an officer of the Demon King’s army among this crowd, the hero felt nervous for no reason.
“This… It’s getting a little difficult.”
When Lina, who was next to her, looked at the crowd with a troubled expression, the hero asked.
“What do you mean?”
“No, I didn’t expect there to be so many people.”
In a small society like a rural village, it would be easy to dig up the inside story, but if adventurers from outside come in like this, the story changes.
Since it is not possible to record all the floating population, it is difficult to identify or catch each one, but there is no end to suspecting everyone.
As the saying goes, if you want to hide a tree, hide it in the forest.
“Excuse me… Hey.”
While the hero and Lina were contemplating what to do, Yuria, who was in the back, said.
“I think I can figure it out…”
“Uh? How do you mean?”
“The demon lord’s collaborators have magic on them to prevent betrayal. I’ve seen it once before, so I guess I’ll know it when I see it again…”
“Really?!”
Seeing Yuria’s genius sense, which she could never achieve with her hard work, the hero was sincerely impressed.
Even if all the wizards on the continent gathered, there would be only a handful of people who could accomplish the same thing as Yuria.
He was a warrior with magical talent, but the hero did not fit into that one hand.
“Therefore… First of all, I will meet the powerful man of the village like the village head with the dragon. In the meantime, others are finding lodgings to stay for today. .”
“Then I will go with you!”
As Yuria blinked at the chance to be alone with the hero for the first time in a while, Martha stepped forward after cutting off Yuria.
‘There’s something strange about the atmosphere.’
While feeling uneasy about not knowing what a hero was, Yuria cut off her words and asked.
“… Why?”
“Why? If I had contact with the demon king army, the demonic spirit might remain, and if I were a priest, what kind of reaction would surely come out?”
“… Wouldn’t it be rather wary if you see the priest? I think it would be better for the two of us to go here alone.”
“Isn’t it better to be vigilant! You might be flustered and try to get your tail caught.”
“What are you going to do if you are careless and casualties come out? There are many people in this town, but who knows how many allies there will be? Why don’t you open your eyes sometimes and take a look around?”
Yuria knew very well that it was more certain that Martha was with her.
Of course, it’s also not very nice to see the hero arguing with Martha here.
However, even if I risked all that, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to be alone with the barely formed hero.
‘Since then, I’ve been noticing, so I can’t even do magic training…’
The words were magic training, and the purpose was a little different, but it wasn’t that there was no effect at all, so it wasn’t wrong.
Just when Yuria didn’t want to give in at all this time, Martha opened her mouth and fired at her like a rapid-fire cannon.
She said, “Just because there are a lot of people, it can’t be said that everyone is an insider of the Demon King’s army. And to operate on such a large scale in such a crowded town? Even so, if I, the priest, declare that the enemy is the demon army, most of the adventurers here will be on our side, so it’s not such a bad choice. Ms. YuRia is a magician, can’t you think of a simple thing like this?”
YuRia didn’t give in to the torrent of words, and said to Martha, fighting back.
“Then, what will you do if it turns into a mess where you can’t distinguish between enemies and allies? If you move recklessly with such complacency and a catastrophe happens, can you take responsibility? Or does our saintess have a miracle that can bring all the dead back to life?”
The argument grew increasingly heated and turned into slander against each other.
While everyone including the hero frowned, Yuria and Marta continued to shout at each other.
“Under! You feel complacent to think that there has never been a situation like this during the long and long war. There is also a miracle that can send a signal to stop fighting in the sky, and adventurers learn all these signals in advance, so there is no need to worry about such a situation!”
“To think that he would care about that in the midst of mayhem. Did the flower garden bloom in your head just because there is a flower garden in the temple?”
“Just watching it with a loud sound has a calming effect, so don’t worry about that. Magic isn’t the only thing that can do convenient things.”
“Even if that’s the case, if a spy from the Demon King’s army instigates…”
“Stop!! Stop both!!”
As the atmosphere became more and more threatening, the lesser hero jumped up from his seat and shouted to stop the two.
“How can we defeat the demon king if we fight each other like this even though we haven’t encountered the demon king yet?! If opinions differ, we can coordinate. Why are we fighting while saying things we can’t say to each other?!”
Have both of them regained their sanity a little at the warrior’s work?
The two, who had been biting each other like hungry wolves a moment ago, bowed their heads and became solemn.
But even in the midst of that, they didn’t stop glaring at each other out of the corner of their eyes.
“It wasn’t really a fight…”
“Sorry…”
“However… So what are you going to do? Are you going with Martha?”
“…”
Upon hearing that question, the hero came up with a good idea after looking at Martha’s clothes and said to YuRia.
“Is this what YuRia is worried about? Seeing Martha, her priestess, the enemy needlessly guarded against her and used her trick.”
“Huh…”
“Then let’s do this. Martha borrows clothes from Yuria or Mirian to wear. Then she won’t think of herself as a priest, so she won’t be unnecessarily wary.”
Even if the enemy were demons powerful enough to feel Martha’s divine power, there was no way that Martha would not recognize her at that level.
‘Why couldn’t the two of them come up with something so simple?’
Actually, it was because they were biting each other and couldn’t afford to think of such a simple thing, but the hero thought it was because of his excessive passion for subjugating the demon king.
“You won’t have any complaints if you do this?”
“Huh…”
“Me too! But… Although I am a little uneasy about whether the waist part will fit.”
When Martha spoke while looking at Yuria’s waist, Yuria raised her eyes and glared at her.
So, the Hero group split into two, Horde, Mirian, and Lina went to find accommodation, while Hero, Yuria, and Marta headed to the village to meet the village chief.
“By the way, how are you going to meet Chief Hero?”
“The problem is this, so it’ll be fine.”
Saying so, what the hero took out was the key the newspaper gave to the hero yesterday.
Showing this key, the only key to the sealed mine, was to say that the guild master had entrusted the mine investigation mission.
“Although there is no official request… It’ll be fine, since the person who is lying won’t think that he came to see the village chief.”
“… I think it will be fine then.”
After asking the villager for the location of the village chief, the hero headed for the village chief’s house and ran into the village chief as he came out of the house holding a sword.
“Excuse me… Are you the chief of this village?”
“Huh? But who are you?”
“Ah, we are adventurers from Tektis. I came after receiving a mine investigation request from the guild master.”
“Inspection? What investigation are you talking about?”
“Yes. Actually…”
When the hero took out the key he received from Bonji, the village chief looked at the key and said with a puzzled expression.
“What is that key?”
“Yes? That… There is a sealed mine where a lot of nurturing stones are buried, right? It is the key that opens the door to the mine.”
“Ah, that clogged mine!”
“Yes. I’m thinking of going there, but before I go, I want to tell the village chief and get a pass or something to show the people guarding the sealed door…”
“Protect? There is no one guarding it, so you can just go.”
“… Is there no one guarding you?”
“Yes. Because the black magicians who came to collect those nurturing stones or something secretly sneaked into the mine and penetrated the walls… There’s no way there’s anyone going through the front door.”
It is said that even that disappears completely after the mine becomes halfway into a dungeon, and no one guards the main gate.
“… Okay. Then would it be all right if I just go?”
“Yes! What… You said you came from a guild, what are we going to do to stop it? You can just go.”
After parting ways with the village headman, the warrior who came out some distance away asked YuRia.
“Yuria… How was the village chief?”
“… I didn’t feel anything.”
“What about Martha?”
“There was no Magi, no lies…”
“… Could it be that the people of this village were just too complacent?”
“…”
“…”
When it became clear to anyone that it was the correct answer, Hero and the others closed their mouths and just stared blankly at the sky.
Even the hero was well aware of the fact that the front line and the far back are easy, but I never thought it would be this much.
The hero who was stroking the hilt of his sword at his waist smiled and said to Yuria and Martha.
“What are you happy about anyway?”
“… Huh?”
“Because it ended without killing anyone. It’s better to be complacent than betrayed.”
“If you think otherwise… Maybe so. But we don’t know yet. It’s because someone other than the village chief might be in the middle of it.”
“Huh… I can’t be careless.”
Joining the Horde and the others to find lodgings, the Hero and the others prepared and headed to the sealed mine.
At the entrance of the mine, where a lot of nurturing stones were buried, a gray circular door was blocking the mine door.
I don’t know what the door is made of, but at least it wasn’t a soft ore like stone or iron, and there were magical characters engraved around the keyhole in the middle.
“How is Lina?”
“Um… First of all, there doesn’t seem to be any trace of anyone coming in or out recently.”
Hearing the warrior’s words, he wondered if he could be so complacent, but seeing it in person, he had no choice but to believe it.
“How does the door look to Yuria?”
“Wait for a sec…”
Yuria, who put her hand on the door blocking the mine, closed her eyes for a moment, then she said, frowning as if she felt something.
“I’m not sure because it’s been a while, but… There are traces of it being opened using an expedient method a few years ago.”
“… This is confirmed.”
There was no spy from the Demon King’s army. It was all because of the complacency of the rear.
Thinking so, the warrior felt dejected, wondering what the conversation he had with Lina the day before was.
“It’s a little disappointing, but… Still, I’m sure there’s something in here, so let’s go nervous. Mr. Horde, please take out the things you have prepared.”
“Yes.”
When it was decided to go inside, Horde began to take out the things prepared in advance from the backpack according to the warrior’s words.
Unlike an open forest or wilderness, there were many things to prepare for entering an enclosed space.
A magical mask that purifies the dirty air in the mine as well as the map of the mine.
And it could be said that it was only basic to be equipped with a magic tool that senses and teaches the miasma coming from the sealed mine in advance and a lantern containing a magic stone that emits light.
“By the way, warrior, what is this thread?”
“Oh, is that it?”
The thread held by Hod had no thread at all, but this thread was called Ariadne and was a magic tool that drew a line visible only to the owner on the floor or wall.
“Even with a map… If you go deep, you might get lost, so this is something Lina prepared.”
“Okay.”
The warrior, fully equipped, put the key into the keyhole in the door.
Soon, for the first time in years indeed, the doors began to move and the mine’s bleak air began to flow.
